Norway Location:
Physical. Norway is located in Northern Europe, with the North Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, Sweden to the east, and the North Sea to the south. It covers an area slightly larger than New Mexico. The climate is temperate along the coast, colder inland, and rainy year-round in the west. The terrain is glaciated, consisting mostly of high plateaus and rugged mountains broken by fertile valleys. There are some small, scattered plains, a coastline deeply indented by fjords (one of the longest and most rugged in the world), and arctic tundra in the north. Natural resources include petroleum, minerals, natural gas, fish, timber and hydropower.
Norway Geography:
Geography
Area: 324,220 sq km
Capital: Oslo; (630,000)
Environmental concerns: water pollution and acid rain damaging forests, lakes, and fish stocks coupled with air pollution from vehicle emissions
Geographical features: glaciated with mostly high plateaus, rugged mountains, and fertile valleys with small, scattered plains; coastline full of fjords and arctic tundra in north
Climate: temperate along coast (due to the North Atlantic Current) with a colder interior and increased precipitation and colder summers along with rain year-round on the west coast
Norway People:
People. Over 4.6 million people live in Norway. Two types of Norwegian (Bokmal and Nynorsk) are the official languages and are spoken by inhabitants, although there are small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities. The population is composed of mostly Norwegians (Nordic, Alpine, Baltic) with about 20,000 Sami as well. The state church is Evangelical Lutheran (86%), with other Protestants, Roman Catholics and other Christians (4%).
4,611,000 (July 2006 est.) Norwegian, Sami 20,000
Annual growth rate: 0.38% (2006 est.)
Major languages are Bokmal Norwegian (official), Nynorsk Norwegian (official) with small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities
Religions: Church of Norway (86%), Other Christian (4%), Muslim (2%), other (8%)
Norway Government:
Government. The country is officially known as the Kingdom of Norway, or Kongeriket Norge to local inhabitants and is divided into 19 provinces or fylker. Its capital, Oslo, is located on the coastline of the southern region. Norway gained its independence from Sweden on October 26, 1905. Its constitution was put into effect on May 17, 1814, and modified in 1884. Norway is a constitutional monarchy, where the leader of the majority party is appointed to the position of prime minister. Political parties include the Labor Party, the Conservative Party, the Center Party, the Christian People’s Party, and the Progress Party.
Norway is a constitutional monarchy.
The chief of state is King Harald V (since 17 January 1991). The head of government is Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg (since 17 October 2005).
Universal suffrage 18 years of age
Norway Communication:
Communication and transportation
2.228 million (2003) main telephone lines in use
3.14 million (2005) Internet users
91,916 km of highway
4,077 km railroads
100 (2005) airports
2.172 million motor vehicles (2004)
Norway Economy:
Economy. From the mid-1970s, Norway has been a major oil exporter, having discovered large deposits of both oil and natural gas in the North Sea. The Norwegian economy is dominated by its oil and gas industry, (only Saudi Arabia and Russia export more oil than Norway). There is little cultivable land in Norway, however, many farmers breed livestock, combining this with tree felling to supply Norway's numerous sawmills. Consequently, wood products and paper are both thriving industries. Offshore fishing has been in decline for some time, although a large number of fish farms have been established, making Norway by far the world's largest supplier of salmon. Heavy engineering industries, principally shipbuilding and machinery, have also declined (although Norway retains a large merchant fleet). However, the country has sustained its economic prosperity through development of an exceptionally strong energy sector. Norway has abundant resources for hydroelectric power, the development of which has allowed greatly reduced overheads for heavy industries, such as aluminum production. Norway enjoys a wholly liberalized trade regime with EU members but rejected membership in the EU as late as 1994. Norway's gross domestic product (GDP) is comprised of: agriculture (2%), industry (37%), and services (61%).
Norway More Information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/norway | 
